Friction
by DanceInStyle
Summary: Olivia and Elliot disagree about a complex case that gets somewhat personal for each of them EO eventually Disclamer Characters belong to Dick Wolf, plot belongs to me R
1. Chapter 1

Olivia sighed as she finished up the last of her paperwork. _Finally_, she thought to herself. As far as the love-hate relationship with her job went, this part was definitely all hate. At that minute, Elliot walked into the precinct, carrying two brown paper bags with what Olivia could only assume was lunch. Her hopes were confirmed when Elliot plopped one of the bags down on her desk, without a word.

"You remembered no mayo, right?" She asked him. He only grunted in reply.

"What's eating you? She glanced towards her partner's desk. He opened his mouth to reply but at that moment, the phone rang. He answered it curtly and listened for a minute before hanging up. Olivia looked at him expectantly.

"Patrol cops found a DB near the Hudson. He's completely naked, no ID or anything on him, he was beaten pretty badly."

By the time the SVU detectives arrived at the scene, the CSU and coroner's office were already there. Olivia waked over to ME Warner who was kneeling by the body. Olivia raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well?"

"He hasn't been dead long at all, rigor hasn't even set in yet. I would guess about two hours tops."

"Cause of death?"

"I'll have to wait until I get him back to the lab to give you a definite answer but right now I would say that it was probably something to do with this." She pointed to a bloody stick that lay on the ground a few feet away from the body. "I'll have someone from CSU bag it and bring it over to the lab so I can find out for sure." Olivia nodded.

"Detective?" One of the CSU's walked up to her. "We found a girl unconscious in a ditch only a couple yards away from here. She looks a little roughed up but her breathing and pulse are normal. I already called for a bus though, just to be safe."

"Any ID?" Olivia asked.

"No, but from the way she was dressed I would say she's a working girl if you know what I mean." Olivia knelt down by the woman who was beginning to wake up. She looked around groggily for a minute.

"What- Where am…-" Finally her eyes settled on Olivia. "Who are you?"

"My name is Olivia, and I'm a detective. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Um, yeah. That john over there-" She waved here hand in the general direction of the body. '- was murdered." Olivia stared at her intently.

"What's your name, honey?" Olivia placed a concerned hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Vegas." Olivia looked at her for a second.

"I need to know your real name." The woman hesitated for a second, glancing up at Olivia. Finally, she sighed.

"Andrea."

"Alright, Andrea," Olivia said softly, "I need you to come back to our precinct so you can tell me what you saw." And, upon the frightened look in her eyes added, "don't worry, we'll let you go as soon as we get your witness statement. You may have to testify eventually but that's a long way away. We have to find whoever did this, first. Andrea didn't say anything for a long time. When she finally spoke, it was into her hands and Olivia could barely make out what she was saying.

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem." Olivia looked down at her, confused.

"I'm sorry Andrea, what did you say?" Andrea made direct eye contact with Olivia for the first time since the two had met. Her jaw hardened and she spoke without any hesitation.

"I killed him."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **not mine, etc.

Olivia sat outside Andrea's room, waiting for the doctor to come tell her something, anything. She was still taken aback over the woman's somewhat shocking confession. At that moment, Elliot arrived, holding the ME's report in his hand. She looked at him expectantly.

"His name is Richard Moyer. He's in the system for an assault charge; twelve years ago he pulled a knife out on some guy in a bar fight. The guy lived and he pled out. They got that from his prints but Warner said she won't be done with the actual autopsy until tomorrow." Olivia nodded. She continued to stare at the door of Andrea's room as if willing a nurse to walk out and tell her something. She really hated waiting. Fortunately, she didn't have to for much longer. A blonde woman with pink scrubs approached the detectives holding a clipboard in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She smiled briefly but didn't bother to make small talk.

"Andrea Holt. Twenty-seven years old, minor bruising on the arms, legs, and abdomen but otherwise, she's fine. I'm waiting on the lab results for her blood but she doesn't present signs of anything serious. You can go ahead and talk to her." She gestured to the slightly open door before walking off briskly."

"Well she's not cold and impersonal at all." Elliot smiled at Olivia before walking into the room, his partner following close behind.

"Andrea," Olivia sat next to the woman looking at her with a mixture of concern and confusion, "what happened?" Andrea closed her eyes for a moment, but whether it was from annoyance or something else, Olivia couldn't tell.

"I told you already. I killed that guy."

"What guy, Andrea?" Olivia was still using the tone she usually reserved for her victims but she couldn't help it; Andrea just looked so small and vulnerable in the hospital bed.

"The _dead_ one. Are you patronizing me or are you just dumb?"

"Why? How? Andrea, we need to know exactly how it went down." Elliot took over the questioning.

"Well, I'm a pro and he was my john. It got ugly; he liked it rougher than I was willing to go for. So I took a stick and I whacked him with it until he stopped moving." Andrea looked at the detectives expectantly. When neither of them said anything, she finalized her story with a curt "The end."

"Okay Andrea, but if it was self-defense why aren't you more injured? And why did the officers find you in a ditch passed out?" Andrea glared at Elliot, her eyes icy.

"Well _killing_ a guy sort of takes it out of you so I wanted to take a nap before I continued working. I figured I was least likely to get _raped_ or something if I stayed out of the way, hence the ditch. Look, if you don't believe me, go ahead and arrest me." She held her hands out dramatically. Olivia glanced at Elliot for a moment before stepping forward.

Andrea Holt, you are under arrest for the murder of Richard Moyer. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you…" Olivia finished reading Andrea her rights and cuffed her. "Do you understand your rights as I've read them to you?" Andrea nodded. "As soon as the hospital releases you, we're going to take you back to our station house." Again, Andrea nodded. As she followed Elliot out of the room she stole one last glance at the woman handcuffed to the bed. Her eyes were half closed and she just looked tired. She noticed Olivia staring at her and she quickly set her jaw, glaring out the window. Olivia turned away and went off to find out where her partner had gone.

Back at the precinct Olivia finished up her paperwork before heading home. The day had long since become night and her detective instincts were ever alert as she walked to her car. As always, her thoughts drifted to her case. She couldn't ignore the guilt she felt as she headed home with the case so wide open. _But Andrea confessed. If we have even the least bit of evidence that coincides with her statement than we can convict her. _ Olivia knew all of this was true but a large part of her still felt like that they weren't even close to closing this. She sighed as she reached her car, running her hands through her hair with frustration. She wondered what her partner thought of all of this. He had clocked out early, leaving to go god-knows-where. She sighed again as she started the ignition. She wished there was something she could do for him, but since she couldn't magically wave a wand and make his marital problems disappear, he was somewhat on his own with this. And with that parting thought, Olivia switched her radio to a random station and, cranking up the volume as loud as it would go, allowed her mind to go blissfully blank.


End file.
